THE Chief Executive hinted at pressing charges against former Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Albert del Rosario, who claimed that China helped him win the presidency in 2016.
“Daldal ka ng daldal diyan, anong China magtulong sakin? Gago ka, saan mo nakuha iyan? Sixteen million, makuha mo ng tulong mula sa ibang bayan? Sixteen million mabili mo? Ang aking majority ay 6 million over, lahat 16 million. Sixteen million voted, 6 million of that if my majority over your friend,” President Rodrigo Duterte said before national television.
Duterte also fired back at del Rosario whom he said isn’t even as Filipino, adding that it was the former DFA chief who ceded control of the Scarborough Shoal to China during the previous administration.
“Alam mo ikaw Albert, Alberto, ‘pag nasilip ko lang na mayroon ka. . . I will charge you for sa, marami akong idedemanda sa’yo,” he said.
“I have not, for the life of me, sued anybody, libel or anything during my 23 years, 4 years as congressman, tapos vice mayor hanggang presidente, pero ikaw ang hahabulin ko kasi ikaw ang nagtransmit ng message.”
“You are, in olden times, kung at war lang tayo sana, you are guilty of treason. Kaya nga pala kasi hindi ka Filipino. Kung saan ka napulot, bakit itsura mo? Hindi ka talaga Filipino sa totoo lang.”
The President also said he would want to see Del Rosario in the latter’s favorite coffee shop so he could personally douse steaming hot coffee on the face of the former DFA boss.
“I want to see you personally. Where can I meet you? Saan ka ba nagkakape-kape? Ibuhos ko ‘yang kape sa mukha mo.”
Previously, Duterte also threatened to execute Del Rosario “by hanging” after the former top diplomat urged him to stand up to Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea.
Del Rosario earlier said a “most reliable international entity” had informed him that senior Chinese officials were “bragging that they had been able to influence the 2016 Philippine elections so that Duterte would be president.“
Del Rosario, a key player in the Philippines’ landmark arbitration victory against Beijing’s sweeping South China Sea claims, did not elaborate on the source of the information he said he received in early 2019, how it was obtained, or how China might have influenced the election outcome.
Duterte spokesperson Harry Roque, in his regular briefing, described Del Rosario’s remarks as “nonsense” and called him a “proven traitor.”